Aguilar announces new endorsements in his bid for Congress

As the campaigns to represent California's 31st District gain traction, Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar announced endorsements from 10 California congressmen.

Eight of the endorsements are from Democrats representing districts in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The two others serve districts in Santa Clara and San Diego counties.

"I'm very pleased to have the support of so many Democratic leaders from our great state," Aguilar said in an emailed statement. "Today is a strong vote of confidence in my campaign to help middle-class families, create jobs and fight for the needs of Californians. "

Three other Democrats have said they will attempt to unseat the current representative of the district stretching from Upland to Redlands, Republican Gary Miller. They are former Congressman Joe Baca, Colton attorney Eloise Gomez Reyes and San Bernardino City Unified School District board member Danny Tillman.

Last week Gomez Reyes was added to Emily's List, garnering her national support from the political organization that backs pro-choice, Democratic candidates. Tillman has said he plans to kick off his 31st campaign after the November school board election, where he seeks re-election.

Meanwhile, Miller, who has thus far shied from politicking, introduced two bills in the House this week.

One, dubbed the Insurance Capital and Accounting Standards act, is intended to ensure affordable, available insurance to consumers, Miller said in a written statement.

The act would offset a 2012 Federal Reserve Board ruling that imposes the same capital requirements of banks on insurance companies. Miller said the "one-size-fits-all approach" could harm insurance companies because they have different risk profiles than banks. The bill, introduced on Thursday, was referred to the House Financial Services Committee.

The other bill he authored was presented on Friday as the Accuracy in Reporting Medical Debt Bill. It strives to give ample time for consumers to report and resolve medical billing errors before medical debt can be reported to credit bureaus, according to Miller.

"Given the negative impact of the premature reporting of medical debt, we introduced this bipartisan legislation to help make certain that only real unpaid debt, not medical billing errors or bills pending with insurance companies or being disputed, are reported to credit bureaus," Miller said.